Although Ghana’s
aviation industry
is one of the
fastest growing
in West Africa – average
annual growth of 10% in
international passengers,
30% domestic, and as
much as 15% in cargo – the
country is spending rather
exorbitant amounts on
building new and upgrading
current airports.
And at least one of
these projects has been
condemned as being a waste
of time and money.
That project is the
upgrading of Tamale airport
to international standards
– on which construction
work is due to start soon,
according to Pedro Alves,
project engineer of Queiroz
Galvao Contracting
Company.
The first phase of the
Tamale International
Airport project is the
extension of the runway
from the current 2 480m
to 3 940m, and includes
the installation of a
complete lighting system
to accommodate bigger
aircraft.
The project is expected to
be completed in September
2015.
But as business and
financial analyst, Prosper
Kwesi Acquah, wrote in
Modern Ghana: “We have
our priorities messed up
and one tends to wonder
what type of thinking goes
into such decision- making
processes.
“The three northern
regions are the most
sparsely populated regions
of the country, and are
among the poorest in the
country.
“In my humble opinion
building an international
airport in Tamale is a waste
of the country’s resources,
injecting over R1.8 billion
into an airport that will
become a white elephant
upon completion.”
The construction of a
new perishable cargo centre
also seems to be money
spent unwisely. Exports of
fresh fruit account for
only 1% of total
Ghanaian
exports,
according
to
Anthony
Pile,
CEO
of Blue
Skies
Ghana.
The
rather
pointless
nature of this
project is exacerbated by
the fact that the government
also has plans to build a
new international airport in
the Greater Accra region –
also the location of Kotoka
International Airport, the
country’s only international
airport up to now.
The new airport will
be constructed by China
Airport Civil Construction
(CACC), which was
contracted in September
2012 and has already
submitted its
feasibility study
findings and
preliminary
design
to the
minister
of
transport,
Dzifa
Attivor.
She has
also, in turn,
submitted these
to the Chinese
financial institutions for
possible funding – for a
project cost that has not yet
been made public but could
be expected to run into
billions of rands.
According to the
CACC plans – based on a
proposed annual passenger
throughput of 4.5 million
– the airport development
will include 13 passenger
aprons; a terminal area
of 45 000 sqm; cargo
throughput of 30 000
tonnes; a cargo warehouse
area of 7 000sqm; and a car
park area of 42 000sqm.
Meanwhile, the Ghana
Airports Company Limited
(GACL) has continued
its rehabilitation of the
Kotoka International
Airport under the phase III
project – estimated by the
Ghanaian press at about
R1.07bn.
But again this may be
good money tossed after
bad, as the ministry of
transport envisages that
the new airport will serve
as an international airport
while the Kotoka airport
will be used as domestic
airport in the future.
Ghana airport a white elephant?
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